Texas A&M breaks into elite Top 20 for science research

Edging out Washington University in St. Louis, Mo., Texas A&M University this year broke into the National Science Foundation’s list of the Top 20 academic research performers in the nation.

The list is based on the amount of research spending on science and engineering.

According to A&M’s press office, A&M is the only new member in the Top 20 this year, and the only Texas institution. It joins an elite group, including Johns Hopkins University, Ohio State, Penn State, Duke University, Stanford University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

“It is notable that Texas A&M advanced its research activities in a year when four of the NSF’s Top 20 institutions for 2008 – Duke, Ohio State, Florida and Washington (St. Louis) – reported declines in their research expenditures for the NSF’s most recent survey,” said Jeffrey R. Seemann, Texas A&M’s vice president for research.

For 2008, Texas A&M’s research expenditures increased by 7 percent to $582 million, bumping Texas A&M up two places on the 2009 list and kicking off Washington University, which had been a member for the last decade.

Not satisfied with the Top 20, Seemann said Texas A&M’s goal is to reach the Top 10 within the next few years.